M. (1) 25 Dec 1700 in (probably) Somerset County, New Jersey
Wife: Femmetje Janse Van Middleswart
M. (2) 23 Feb 1707 in (probably) Somerset County, New Jersey
Wife: Catelyntje Rapalje
M. (3) 16 Nov 1711 in Flatbush, New York
Wife: Jannetje Vechten
D. (probably) Jul 1744 in Somerset County, New Jersey
Availability of large amounts of land was a strong motivator for migration in colonial America. This is likely why Peter Dumont decided to move from up the Hudson River to central New Jersey.
Peter was born in Kingston, New York April 18, 1679 to Wallerand Dumont and Grietje Hendricks. Kingston was a community about 100 miles north of Manhattan; it had survived a couple of massacres inflicted by local tribes, and Peter’s father had been a Dutch soldier sent to help defend it. Peter had five older siblings and one older half-sister from his mother’s earlier marriage.
It was in about 1699 that Peter left New York to settle in Somerset County, New Jersey. Many Dutch colonists were attracted to the area because the English authorities wanted to populate it, and had guaranteed the Dutch the right to practice their religion. Peter committed himself to the region when on June 10, 1702, he purchased 2,000 acres for £380. The land was located in Hillsborough township, on the south side of the Raritan River. It stayed in the family for several generations and part of it would one day be owned by a U.S. Senator and descendant of Peter named Frederick Freylinghuysen.
Typical 18th-century Dutch farm in New Jersey.
When it came to family life, Peter stayed within the Dutch community. On Christmas Day of 1700, he married Femmetje Janse Van Middleswart. She was the 16-year-old daughter of Jan Van Middleswart, another early settler of Somerset County, originally from Flatbush. Peter and Femmetje soon had three sons, but sadly, she died on September 25, 1706. Peter married a second wife, Catalyntje Rapalje, on February 1, 1707, but she died about a week after giving birth to a baby girl two years later. Then on November 16, 1711, Peter married Jannetje Vechten. They had eight children born between 1715 and 1735.
Peter was an elder of the First Reformed Church of Raritan, and in 1738, an assemblyman of New Jersey from Somerset County. He made out his will on March 29, 1740 dividing his land amongst his four sons by his third wife. His two sons by his first wife had previously received land from their maternal grandfather. His will was proved July 17, 1740. Peter died in 1744 and was buried in a family plot on his own land. One of his great-grandsons, Peter Dumont Vroom, became governor of New Jersey in the early 19th century.
Children by Femmetje Janse Van Middleswart:
1. Doort Dumont — B. before 12 Feb 1702; D. young
2. John Dumont — B. before 29 Aug 1704, Ulster County, New York; D. 14 Jul 1753, Somerset County, New Jersey; M. Annatje Hooglandt (1707-?), 17 Nov 1727
3. Abraham Dumont — B. 25 Apr 1706, Raritan, New Jersey; D. 7 Aug 1787, Raritan, New Jersey; M. Mattie Bergen, 10 Aug 1733
Children by Catelyntje Rapalje:
1. Catelyntje Dumont — B. before 27 Apr 1709, Raritan, New Jersey; M. Christian La Grange, before 3 Apr 1728
Children by Jannetje Vechten:
1. Margaret Dumont — B. 24 Jan 1715, Raritan, New Jersey; D. 11 Feb 1743; M. George Bergen (~1710-?), 3 Jun 1738
2. Hendrick Dumont — B. 22 Mar 1717, Raritan, New Jersey; D. 8 Nov 1760, New York, New York; M. (1) Mary Traverier (~1720-~1749), 20 Dec 1743, Raritan, New Jersey; (2) Catherine Oothout (1722-1775), 29 Nov 1749, Somerset County, New Jersey
3. John Baptist Dumont — B. 13 Apr 1719, Raritan, New Jersey; D. 18 Dec 1776, (probably) Hillsborough, New Jersey; M. Marie Van Duyne (1725-1763), 6 Nov 1745, New Jersey
4. Gerretie Dumont — B. 23 Mar 1721, Raritan, New Jersey; D. 25 Jan 1747, Middlesex County, New Jersey; M. George Vroom (1713-1756), 4 Feb 1741, Somerset County, New Jersey
5. Jannetje Dumont — B. 27 Apr 1723, Raritan, New Jersey; M. Peter Vroom (1722-1768), 20 Aug 1750, New Jersey
6. Peter Dumont — B. 11 Nov 1725, Raritan, New Jersey; D. 21 Nov 1808; M. Brachie Vroom (1725-1791), 19 May 1748, New Jersey
7. Rynear Dumont — B. 3 Apr 1728 Raritan, New Jersey; D. before 23 Aug 1769; M. Annatje Brouwer (1730-?)
8. Ignatius Dumont — B. before 10 Jun 1730, Somerset County, New Jersey; D. young
Sources:
“Wallerand Dumont and his Somerset County Descendants,” John B. Dumont, Somerset County Quarterly, Volume 1, 1912
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volumes 28-29, 1897
